Chris Sutton has slated Michael Beale over his Rangers 'huddle' after defeat to Celtic at Hampden - as the pundit claimed the Ibrox boss is learning from Ange Postecoglou.

Sutton and Beale had been embroiled in a war of words in recent weeks, trading verbal blows in the lead up to the final.

Beale had called out Sutton as a "comedy act" and the "worst ever" Chelsea player, while Sutton questioned whether the Ibrox manager would have given Celtic an uncontested goal in the event of a similar scenario as against Partick Thistle.

Sutton continued his verbal sparring after Celtic lifted the Viaplay Cup at Hampden as he referenced Michael Beale's player career and suggested he's never won a trophy as a player or manager.

Now, Celtic favourite Sutton has claimed Beale is learning from Postecoglou as he cited a picture showing Rangers players gathered at full-time.

For Sutton, it was akin to a Celtic huddle.

In his Daily Record column, he said: "It was interesting to see Michael Beale copying Celtic’s huddle on the pitch after the final whistle at Hampden last weekend. But the Rangers manager should be looking to take a leaf out of Ange Postecoglou’s book in far more meaningful ways.

"There’s always a huge fall out after a derby defeat and it’s magnified a million times when it comes in a cup final – especially when one of the teams has been played off the pitch. Rangers went into the game in bullish mood, talking up their chances, firing barbs across the city and talking a good game. A few days later we have the Ibrox manager talking about battling ‘against the odds’ and facing a total rebuild in the summer."

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Sutton continued in his scathing verdict as he called out the Rangers "standards" with players and officials trudging down the tunnel before the trophy presentation.

He added: "Talk about a wild ride. Beale has spoken about standards at his club but I didn’t see those standards when the Rangers team refused to hang about to see Celtic go up and get their winners’ medals. I also didn’t see it when he held the group meeting on the Hampden pitch after the game, which was clearly a show for the supporters, when the inquest should have gone on behind closed doors."

"That is the big lesson Beale should learn from this damaging week. The pandering to the masses has been good knock-about fun but in the long term it doesn’t do him any good."

In a final parting shot, Sutton said: "Beale doesn’t seem to lack confidence and he’s done a lot of talking since he come in.

"But he went from sounding like (Jose) Mourinho to starting to come across more like Pedro (Caixinha) – when he really should be taking his inspiration from Postecoglou."